Wright State University Lake Campus/2016-9/Phy1110/log/Emily R

Vector Balancing

• The objective of this experiment is to observe the balancing forces behind the vectors formed by a 3 4 5 triangle using three weight holders on a vector table.
  • Experimental Steps
    • First set two weight holders 90 degrees apart
    • Place 200g at 0 degrees, 250g at unknown, and 150g at 90degrees respectively on each weight holder
    • Experiment by moving the third weight until the vectors have balanced and the ring is centered
    • Do math

      • $x+\theta =180\deg$

$\tan \theta ={\frac {3}{4}}$

$\theta =\left(\operatorname {arctan} {\frac {3}{4}}\right)\cdot {\frac {180\deg }{\pi }}=X$

$180-X=\theta _{\text{actual}}$

$\theta _{\text{actual}}=180-\left(\operatorname {arctan} {\frac {3}{4}}\right)\cdot {\frac {180\deg }{\pi }}$

• • • Measure the largest unknown angle on your vector table
    • Divide actual angle measurement by the difference between actual and measured angle to determine error percentage

• • Results
    • We found our largest angle to be 144 degrees and calculated the actual angle to be 143 degrees, resulting in a .7% error